1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic clutch device including a clutch actuation mechanism having a clutch outer, a clutch inner coaxially surrounded by the clutch outer, a plurality of first friction plates engaged with the clutch outer in a relatively non-rotatable manner, a plurality of second friction plates that are arranged so as to alternately overlap with the first friction plates and engaged with the clutch inner in a relatively non-rotatable manner, a bearing plate portion that is fixed to one of the clutch inner and the clutch outer so as to be opposed to the first and second friction plates arranged in a mutually overlapping manner, and a pressing plate portion that sandwiches the first and second friction plates with the bearing plate portion. A clutch disengage/engage control mechanism is provided for switching disengagement/engagement of the clutch actuation mechanism. The clutch disengage/engage control mechanism includes a clutch piston whose opposite sides are faced toward a control hydraulic chamber and a hydraulic canceler chamber and which is connected to the pressing plate portion so as to move to a side for pressing the first and second friction plates in accordance with an increase in hydraulic pressure of the control hydraulic chamber, and a division wall member that forms the hydraulic canceler chamber between the division wall member and the clutch piston and forms an oil passage, which introduces lubricating oil toward the first and second friction plates, in cooperation with the clutch inner.
2. Description of Background Art
A hydraulic clutch device is disclosed in, for example, JP-A No. H7-42761.
However, in JP-A No. H7-42761 the control hydraulic chamber, hydraulic canceler chamber, and division wall of a clutch disengage/engage control mechanism are arranged axially outward with respect to a plurality of alternately overlapping friction plates in a clutch actuation mechanism, causing an increase in the axial size of the hydraulic clutch device, which in turn leads to an increase in the size of a power unit having the hydraulic clutch device.